The Dream Shifter

Chapter 201

Abeiron took a half step forward leaning down to the seated Yori. The appearance of Yori made his feature harden a little to cover up the truth. It unsettled him. He knew that rebellious factions existed in Atlantis that hated the military, but he never believed that they would recruit children to their cause. 'The rebellion nearly thirty years ago was said to have had children, mostly MP users, but…' He watched the changing expressions on Yori's face trying to understand his foe. 'If this is the preamble for rebellion why would children already be involved? Is it because of the laws?' The longer that Abeiron thought the more he dragged himself in circles questioning unnecessary things.

He closed his eyes briefly only appearing as a blink, but it cleared his mind. Forcing focus back, his mind centered on Yori, a teenager. The one point of unease remained; they had taken a child prisoner. All they ever had to deal with on the border were the lost scientists to return safely back, adults. 'I won't question the Captain, but interrogating a child seems like something a villain would do. But he's right that we need answers and none of them looked to be an adult… What is this invasion of theirs?' His questions reminded him of their purpose. They needed to understand the situation so that they could deal with it.

A glance over at the White in the corner giving him a nod in silent told him all he needed. The field was finished. Abeiron narrowed his eyes further forcing a darkly serious tone from his voice. "Regardless of whatever language you speak I know you can understand me."

Surprise entered into Yori's eyes from the declaration. 'How does he know I'm still wearing the translation earring Hayashi made for me?'

"While we're here there is no language barrier for anyone. So silence based on language is not valid. Also know that this field has a regenerative effect, so injures will be healed over time." Abeiron leaned in closer to Yori to impress the graveness of the situation. "You may just be a child, but you should be old enough to understand your situation."

Yori leaned into his chair as much as it allowed. He felt the pressure that the man exuded. It was heavy and suffocating. Sweat built up on his back making him stick to the wood backing. He was just a high school student, one that had never been in a fight in his life before coming to Atlantis. Yori felt the compulsion to start blathering immediately, but the thought of his sister made him restrain himself. 'Anything I say could hurt her…I might not have been the brother she needed lately, but I can at least protect her in this way…my only way…' He fought to build up as much resolve as he could to fortify his mind and body. 'I need to do something to delay them…' Yori hoped that speaking would give him the grounding and strength needed to endure. His face struggled to become stern as fear still periodically spread through him. "The Geneva Convention prevents mistreatment of civilians."

"The moment you entered our territory you were trespassing on foreign soil. When you attacked the soldiers, you became combatants. You aren't civilians anymore. You're terrorists."

The shock caught in Yori's mouth made him forcibly close it not to give away his surprise. He had unfortunately already revealed himself too much. 'Terrorist? You can't be serious! That's a huge leap to make so quickly, but…I guess in their mind that is what we're doing…' Yori did not like agreeing to the accusation. He only thought of himself helping his sister, he only ever defended himself when attacked. He made no provocative moves and Yuki was here to stop the attacks. 'They started everything.' Yori knew that he could not say something like that though. "But regardless the articles—"

"Don't apply here. We never were party to the treaties. Our existence is an invisible one. Anything that happens here will remain here."

'Doesn't apply? You can't be serious? How inhumane are these people?' Yori fought with his complete disbelief of his situation. He thought he could call their bluff as an empty threat, but he found himself cornered. There was no hesitation in the Atlantean officer before him. 'They really are going to t*****e me for information!'

'As a child, scaring him should be enough. It's a little rough, but it'll pull out the information we need.' However, fate did not grant his hope.

Time slowly dragged on between Abeiron and Yori in a battle of patience, fear and wills. It was a battle that Yori knew he was losing. All the pain seemed simple and brief as it all vanished soon after he received it. The regenerative field worked as told, his body would always be ready for more. Unfortunately, his mind did not recover or his heart. The toll that he took and yet unable to feel true relief from pain left him in knots of twisting exhaustion. He simply wanted it all to end, but held wearily on to the thought of his sister. 'I must protect…her…'

The tent flap opened, the light came even more painful for Yori to take even though later in the day. He saw nothing well with the sweat that covered his face and hanged off his brow. A new arrival added a mix of uncertainty and dread with a pinch of hope. It could be over for the moment or a sign of things worse to come.

The Commander tilted his head over his shoulder a little noticing the entrance. "Captain."

Simonides walked around the man and over to his flank. He looked down at the chair and Yori tied to it. Tied both to the chair and together still held firmly, he saw no signs of it loosening. Scanning over the body of the teenager, the tunic held together through the rough treatment, but his body looked fine. Sweat covered nearly all of his exposed skin. His breathing came swallow and at small paces. "He say anything?"

"Nothing helpful, sir."

"I see," he spoke in measured tone. He gave a motion to Abeiron tell him to step aside. Simonides stood in front of Yori staring down at him. His hands came to rest upon Yori's shoulders as he bent down coming to eye-level with the child. "Your will is strong. You do honor to your cause for resisting this long. However, understand that this is merely a prelude. We have ways to force you to talk and we can make them painful. I'll give you this last chance to speak before my generosity is spent. We will put an end to your rebellion."   

Time was the least of the worries that the moment. A cold hand felt as though it reached out for him and began to throttle him. Even the touch was enough to turn his skin to ice and down to the muscles. His throat locked up unable to speak. Through witnessing combat, pain and fear, he thought that it provided him some amount of insulation from it. The seemingly hours of interrogation should have harden him. Resolve to protect should have been enough. He thought the presence of his captor staring down at him prepared him.

All meaningless, he realized in that moment.

Yori did not expect the absolute terror that he felt as the new soldier stood before him. The feeling that he presented was on a completely different level than the others. He felt the seriousness of his situation before when it became clear that they would stop at nothing to get what they wanted from him. They instilled fear within him then and he felt it become an uncomfortable companion to him in the endless repeating of questions he did not answer. The edge it held over him dulled and turned blunt. It had to be the worst he believed and from there could only get better. There could not be anything to imagine worse than the feeling that so thoroughly permeated his body through each pore.

Such fear seemed small and insignificant to what he faced. A second even deeper feeling made him question naively if there could possibly be any further to go. Once proven wrong he felt he had to accept that it could be even worse than even in that moment. The realization that it brought shattered him completely. The light at the end vanished and all he saw around him was utter darkness with a boundless pit that never knew an end. He could not even sweat his fear away.

The new man that stood before him carried himself in a different manner than the rest. He had a sense of command and experience that went beyond anything that Yori could possible dream. In those few moments before he lost sight of everything, Yori understood it all. The words spoke with absolute truth and conviction, no thread of hesitation. Before him stood a man driven and serious, no longer seeing him as a child or foreigner, but simply a threat.

Yori did not compare.

He did not know if he could stack his resolve against him. The decision he made, to protect his sister in his own small way, disappeared from his grasp. His hands could only take hold of air as they scrambled feebly to keep hold of even a grain. '…sister…I…' It all faded away from his sight. Any image of her in his mind shuttered to black. '…come back…come back!'

Externally, Simonides watched the silent change in features on Yori's face. The stone expression for himself remained constant. He could see the kid's resolve crumbling away. 'It's only a matter of time now…' An extended index finger motioned to the White in the corner acting invisible to the whole conversation. He turned halfway away from the chair and the Commander looking at the tent flaps. "Get Athene and prepare the interrogation. I want you to start in thirty minutes."

Abeiron stiffened a little accepting the orders. "Yes, sir!"

Simonides turned his eyes back down to the broken teenager. He purposely made sure of speaking aloud for him to hear, though uncertain if the words made it to his mind. 'They seem largely too young and inexperienced with the reality of the world. They're still just children. A real taste of reality will be enough to break them. Then I'll have the answers I need to put an end to all of this. Everything will be normal soon…' The Captain walked out of the tent first with his departure releasing some of the tension in the air.

A strange pressure fell over Yumi in the middle of her walk. She came to a pause and looked forward, though her eyes already faced the direction. Rather than just peering ahead, she focused away from the physical and inward. The familiar feeling that she had been following to her brother changed suddenly on her. 'Brother? Something happened…' She tried to search within herself, but did not understand her feeling.

The powers that she became fully aware of possessing, finally, still came as new and foreign to her. She let most of it run on its own without thinking too hard about control. Any focus she had came from how determined her mind was in the moment. Her confusion shattered the narrowed line she held. 'It was just there… Where'd it go?' Yumi threw out her hand grasping at the air thinking that it would help her focus, but only made it all disappear faster.

Yumi ran forward in the direction that she believed her brother to be, but it all felt empty. Her certainty of knowing became a question rather than a statement to herself. It felt like she no longer stood on a straight road, but a forest. All the trees looked identical and the horizon shrank away masked by the density. 'Where are you, Brother? Brother!' The awkward feeling of being in empty surroundings overcame her. She spun around trying to get a sense of her direction. She did not want to be lost. 'What's happening?'

Striking her head from behind, a spark wiped everything from her thoughts. The space returned to her vision and focus. Grass surrounded her on all sides and only a sparsely planted tree existed. Her mind turned sharp and alert as she knew the feeling that she received. 'Someone's coming! It's like before, but it doesn't feel hostile like an attack…'

Her returned focus found her powers responding to her requests. Yumi spun around on the heels of her feet to face the feeling that she sensed. A barrier erected quickly around her and her hands came up. She tried to imitate the stances that she saw Yuki carry during his fighting, but it turned out too loose and weakly held. "Who's there?"

Silence returned to Yumi for several moments as she felt the tension tighten the muscles in her back. It quickly leaked into her shoulders the longer she waited. 'Where are they? I know I wasn't imagining it!' Yumi scanned the fields and hills in search of the warning. She began to turn her head considering that her direction might be off. However, the sudden darkening of the sun and shadows cast through her space forced her back.  'There!' Yumi tried to prepare herself for whatever she saw, but knew internally that she lacked the experience. She did not believe that she should expect a fight, so that gave her some comfort.